keeping secrets
by garyprestons
Summary: In Series 2 Clive knows that Tamara and Gary are sham-married, but has to keep it a secret. Obviously, this doesn't work out so well...


Clive and Gary have been close mates for over two years now, so when his friend returns from Hong Kong unannounced, Clive knows something's happened. But between Miranda snogging the new chef, the cleanup required after she falls over for the hundredth time, and her subsequent fleeing from the restaurant with Stevie on her tail, there really isn't a lot of time for Clive to begin his interrogation.

Instead he trails Stevie out of the restaurant and tries to help her comfort Miranda. The poor thing is completely out of sorts, and it's not long before she's fallen back into her usual pattern of making a fool (he thinks that fondly, of course) of herself in front of Gary. Not that she needs to worry about his opinion, of course — the look on Gary's face when he hugs her doesn't go unnoticed by Clive's sharp eyes.

Clive isn't surprised at all that Tamara barely survived at her old job in Hong Kong. When Gary tells Clive the whole sordid story from start to finish, he wants nothing more than to refuse the favour. But Gary's his friend, and since Tamara helped him out of a jam, he feels indebted to her by proxy to some extent, so he agrees. Gary promises it's just for a month or so until she finds something full-time, but Clive isn't holding his breath. It's obvious she has Gary wrapped around her pinky finger.

Gary makes Clive swear not to tell Miranda about the whole sham-married thing, and once again Clive is forced to reluctantly agree when he considers the alternative. Still, something gnaws away at his heart every time he sees the way Miranda gazes adoringly at Gary, and after a while Clive realises it's guilt.

Sometime along the way, both Clive and Stevie grow tired of the relentless will-they/won't-they, the pining, the giggling, and frankly, their absolute and complete ignorance of what's developed between them. What started out as simply Miranda fancying Gary has turned into both of them being completely mad about one another and unwilling to admit to it. So they stage an intervention.

The next day, while Miranda is no doubt spilling the details to an eager Stevie, Gary is more shy about telling Clive how their date went. But it's clear that the relationship between his two friends has already shifted; he catches them holding hands, kissing one another on the cheek, and in general being grossly adorable around one another.

For the first week after their big fight, Gary blames Clive. If only he hadn't opened his mouth, if only he hadn't offered his opinion and stuck his nose in where it didn't belong, if only…

Clive takes the abuse with polite annoyance; he knows Gary genuinely doesn't blame him for his own idiocy, but rather needs someone to blame because he's still in denial that it's his fault. Once he runs out of things to accuse him of, he can see his friend starting to piece it together.

If only he hadn't married Tamara. If only he hadn't promised such a huge favour without realising the consequences. If only he hadn't gone to Hong Kong.

The mood in the restaurant is tense for a long while after that. Miranda stops coming by for lunch, and Stevie, faithfully loyal to her friend, is scarce as well. Their foursome has, somehow, split up evenly down the middle, and Clive and Stevie try and push the two halves back together as subtly and gently as they can. But ultimately, they agree that Miranda and Gary have to figure out for themselves that they need one another, that their friendship is that important.

It takes a long time.

Until one day, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, Miranda comes by the restaurant to order lunch for her and Stevie. Clive watches from a distance, observing the pair of them like it's a fascinating nature documentary. The interaction takes less than two minutes, both skittish around one another and Gary laughing nervously at her attempt at a joke, but when she leaves, Clive practically falls onto the sofa clutching his newspaper to his chest with unrestrained glee.

It's not much, but it's a start.


End file.
